Klarinet Archive - Posting 000829.txt from 1997/10

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: klarinet-digest V1 #339
Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 12:18:18 -0400

> <<One story we heard from Ozawa was that Bernstein, had parts for the
> Philharmonic, arranged so-that it was in 2/4 or 3/4 (I forget which)
> and the orchestra played the accents in the appropriate place.>>

I have had the distinct displeasure of playing under a conductor who
wanted to "help" the players by re-barring anything with mixed meters,
which includes nearly everything by Stravinsky. This practice, of course,
is no help at all, and destroys any semblance of the intent and effect of
the music. For some reason, such conductors never want the orchestra to
play syncopations, giving a downbeat on every accent.

Always beware of conductors who say that they are going to do something
out of the ordinary in order to "help" you. Almost invariably, what they
actually want to do is help themselves.

Ed Lacy
el2@-----.edu